Letters to the Editor: Well done, EC

IT IS heartening to learn of the Election Commission’s recommendation (‘EC to parties: Don’t just promise, explain how they will be fulfilled’, IE, February 21) to political parties that they make only such promises to voters that can be fulfilled. The decision taken by the EC is quite admirable, considering the umpteen promises political parties […]

Published: February 24, 2014 1:44 am

IT IS heartening to learn of the Election Commission’s recommendation (‘EC to parties: Don’t just promise, explain how they will be fulfilled’, IE, February 21) to political parties that they make only such promises to voters that can be fulfilled. The decision taken by the EC is quite admirable, considering the umpteen promises political parties make to win the votes of the masses, but then seldom fulfil. This step will compel political parties to ensure the feasibility of promises, before they make them to woo
the electorate.
— H. Narayanan,
Noida

Fair remissions

THIS refers to ‘SC stops TN from freeing 3 Rajiv killers’ (IE, February 21).When laws are ambiguous and confusing, politicians tend to run amok. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa took advantage of the loopholes in the rule pertaining to the remission of sentences. She ignored the fact that the apex court had also said that the reasons for such remissions should be fair and reasonable. The Centre should engage the SC on the need for our courts to dispose of criminal cases within a specified time frame, the necessity to ensure that files pertaining to death row convicts do not take their own sweet time to move along the corridors of power and, not least, the vexed question of abolishing
capital punishment.
— Ganapathi Bhat
Akola

APROPOS of the editorial ‘Moving to the city’ (IE, February 21), the fate of Hyderabad seems to be similar to that of Chandigarh, which became a Union territory when Haryana was carved out of Punjab way back in 1966. Thanks to the manner in which the statehood issue has been handled, the divide between Seemandhra and Telangana will be difficult to bridge. The best recourse is to develop Telangana’s capital so as to foster competition between both states. Larger states have failed to govern effectively and the Centre must refer all potential demands for new states to a states reorganisation commission so that the views of all concerned are debated and considered. More states should be created but they should be economically viable and self-sustaining.
— Ashok Goswami
Mumbai

AAP going strong

THE article, ‘The Importance of being dull’ (IE, February 18), by Ashutosh Varshney did an excellent job of identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the AAP. Varshney has rightly suggested that anti-system parties are good at
undermining government but not at governing when voted to power. However, we cannot determine the efficiency of a party when it has worked for only 49 days, especially when it did not have a majority. The emergence of this party suggests that Indian democracy is self-correcting. In future, the success of the AAP will depend on the types of candidates it selects.
— Archan Mehta
Ahmedabad